The Large Hadron Collider Might Also Be A Time Machine

The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, propelling charged particles to high speeds and smashing them together in the name of science. It also might be a time machine.

At least that's what a long-shot theory put forth by Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho suggests. If this wacky pair's 'sounds crazy but it just might work' theory is true, then the gigantic machine hidden beneath the earth near Geneva, Switzerland, could be the first machine capable of sending matter backwards in time.

"Our theory is a long shot," admitted Weiler, who is a physics professor at Vanderbilt University, "but it doesn't violate any laws of physics or experimental constraints."

The theory is also based on other scientists' theories about yet another theory, so proving it correct will be quite the task.

One of the main functions of the Large Hadron Collider is to generate a Higgs boson, the (as of right now) hypothetical elementary particle that would explain why protons, electrons, and neutrons have mass. That's theory one.

Should the Large Hadron Collider produce one of these, some scientist theorise that it will also produce a second particle known as a Higgs singlet at the same time.

That's theory two.

If those theories work out, Weiler and Chui Man Ho believe those singlets will have the ability to travel via a fifth dimension, moving backwards and forwards in time.

"One of the attractive things about this approach to time travel is that it avoids all the big paradoxes," Weiler said. "Because time travel is limited to these special particles, it is not possible for a man to travel back in time and murder one of his parents before he himself is born, for example. However, if scientists could control the production of Higgs singlets, they might be able to send messages to the past or future."

Messages like, "Kill one of my parents", for instance.

This is all based on M-theory, a theory that can explain all of the mysterious magical forces around us like gravity and such, but requires extra dimensions to do so, say 10 or 11. The theory has led some to believe that our dimension is merely a four-dimensional membrane floating along the space time continuum. It's all very Doctor Who. Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.

Proving this wild theory would rely on a lot of theoretical factors falling into place. Once those singlets start showing up, scientists would need to check to see if their decay products spontaneously appear with the particles, a sure sign that there's time travel going on.

It's an incredibly long shot, but the duo have a paper published on it now, so if this time travel does occur, they totally called it, and that's what science is all about.

If it's possible for something to travel backwards in time it would mean that the future is predetermined and none of us are in control of our own destinies. What job we have, who we marry, how and when we die have already been decided.

Dang..I thought it would be time travel by traveling at greater than speed of light.

I was messing around the other day, and I was thinking...if we can achieve light speed, a mass would have basically infinite internal energy. I want to see what happens in a nuclear fission on that mass.

Story time! I went to an all-girls’ school. My friends and I had that special bond of closeness that apparently comes with synced-up periods and measuring the length of each other’s winter leg hair.
This, obviously, led to a brief era of trying to catch one of the others unawares with the most impressive, most unexpected spank possible. We’re talking sneaking up behind each other in the hallway and laying one down that made the earth shake. If I couldn’t read your palm from the imprint, you weren’t doing a good enough job.